The producers of ITV1's The Jeremy Kyle Show have strongly denied claims that an alcoholic guest on the programme was plied with lager.

Peter Davies, 37, alleged that studio staff kept bringing him beer and said they were "stirring me up for a fight".

But Mr Davies "was not encouraged to drink", a spokesman for the programme insisted, adding the guest was not goaded before going on stage.

The show sees guests discuss personal problems in front of a live audience.

Mr Davies appeared on the programme in February to discover why his father had cut him out of his will.

"They basically wanted me to make a fool of myself - and that's exactly what I did," he told The Sun newspaper.

"I was half-cut by the time I went on stage. They knew I was an alcoholic and they should never have given me a drink."

'Bear-baiting'

The ITV spokesman said Mr Davies was not given four or five cans of lager, as he had claimed, but had consumed "two small cups of weak lager over a two-and-a-half hour period to counteract alcohol withdrawal symptoms".

This was prescribed on medical advice, the spokesman added, and Mr Davies was assessed by a nurse and psychotherapist, as well as production staff, before being declared fit to proceed with the show.

The programme is proud of the help it gives guests who appear on the programme to help resolve their problems

ITV spokesman

He added that the programme-makers had made several follow-up calls to Mr Davies and had arranged for him to attend a rehabilitation unit.

The show had also paid for four counselling sessions, he said.

"The programme is proud of the help it gives guests who appear on the programme to help resolve their problems," he explained.

Earlier this week, a judge branded The Jeremy Kyle Show "a form of human bear-baiting" in a court in Manchester.

The judge made the comments while sentencing another of the show's guests, who headbutted another man during filming earlier this year, for assault.